Do Kids Seem More Fragile Now?

Plus: Whose fault is it when kids act like jerks?

Greetings, all. This week I’m deep in the research on kids’ resilience, and I’d love to pick your brains. I’ve been reading a lot about the ways in which parents have become more anxious and overprotective in recent years, and I’m curious as to how this may be affecting kids’ perceptions of their own strength and resilience.

I’ve seen lots of examples documenting increased fragility among college-aged kids, but not many involving younger kids. So I’m wondering: Have you noticed that kids today, compared with kids from a few decades ago, are more likely to shy away from challenges, give up in the face of discomfort, or ask for more reassurance or help from adults? If so, I’d love to hear about your observations, whether they’re in the context of everyday life or education.

Did she make a snowflake, or is SHE the snowflake?

Specific anecdotes are fine — really, anything that you think illustrates a trend. If I’d like to include what you’ve shared in my book, I’ll first check with you in a comment or message to make sure it’s okay, and I also promise to anonymize everything I use. If you don’t want to comment publicly, you can instead email me.

Are Your Kids Being Awful Because You Let Them Have Doritos?

And now for this week’s

Today I’m commenting on this Instagram post from @the.holistic.mother:

Here, let me just introduce a minor fix: